Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 110824 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 554(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110824 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 554(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
“Okay,” I agree.
He takes my hand into his and we head outside. He takes a minute to lock my door and then escorts me to his vehicle. Once there, Victor opens the door for me, and gingerly puts his hand on my lower back as I step on the running boards of the black SUV. When I’m settled, he leans over and clicks me into my seatbelt. He gives me another quick peck on my lips and then closes the door. I take the small amount of time it takes for him to come around to the driver’s side to get control of my raging hormones. Once he hops in and starts the car, my breathing returns to normal.
“Do you want to go out tonight or stay in?” Victor asks.
I shake off the hunger he awakened—at least as best as I can. I look at him and smile. “It doesn’t matter, Victor. I will be working late tonight though. The center is having a group therapy meeting and I’d like to be there. I understand these girls and who knows, maybe it will be good for me too.”
“Are you sure? I know you don’t like to relive that time in your life. It’s not fair. You should be able to look back on going to the University of Arizona as a great memory,” he growls, as he backs out of my drive.
“What happened to me sadly happens to a lot of women who move out on their own. Just because the college is well respected doesn’t mean bad things don’t happen.” These are the same words that Deanna has worked hard to get in my head. I repeat them without thought, but I can’t say I truly believe them, even though every word is truth. There’s always this piece inside of me that says it happened to me because I deserved it. My mother was right all along. I tighten my hand into a fist, keeping it so tight that I can feel my fingernails dig into my palm. I fight to hold down all the shame and negative emotions that I keep bottled up tight. Today is not the day. Victor professed to care for me. He wants to spend time with me. For some reason, he doesn’t see what everyone else does when he looks at me. That’s important, and I need to hold on to it and try to make sure he never regrets that.
“Hey.”
I pull myself out of my thoughts and look at Victor.
“Yeah?”
“I don’t know where your head went just now, but pull it back.” He looks back at the road and holds out his hand to me at the same time. “I made such a mess when I tried to tell you how special you were to me that I think you missed what I did say that was good,” he murmurs, sparing me a glance and giving me a smile, his hand still held out to me.
“What was that?” I ask, wiggling my fingers. I know he wants me to hold his hand and I want to. For some reason, however, I’m nervous.
“It’s you and me against the world. Stop overthinking and worrying, Kitten. Just trust me. Better yet, trust in us. I think together we are unstoppable.”
“You’re crazy,” I laugh as he pulls into the shelter.
“Over you,” he agrees, and I laugh as I put my hand in his, and he lowers them to his hip.
“Oh my God,” I gasp in between giggles.
“What?” he asks, with a huge grin on his face.
“That was so cheesy.”
“Maybe, but it’s completely true,” he counters and leans over, bringing our joined hands up to rest against my chest. He presses in, not letting go of my hand, as his lips press against mine and I open up for him.
Kissing Victor is suddenly becoming very addicting.
victorio
. . .
“I fucking hate that look on your face,” Zane grumbles.
I laugh. “Now, don’t be a poor sport.”
Zane throws up his middle finger. “Asshole.”
“Takes one to know one,” I respond with a shrug.
“What’s going on with you two?” Antonio asks, as he and Niko walk through a door on the opposite side of the room.
I’ve barely walked through the front entrance when Zane started. I keep my smirk on my face because really, I couldn’t give a fuck. Not one. He’s not getting anywhere around my woman.
“Nothin’, Boss,” Zane mumbles, and that just makes my grin deepen.
“Then why does pretty boy here look like the fucking cat that swallowed your pet parakeet?”
“Boss, do you even know what a parakeet is?” Zane asks, and Niko busts out laughing. We all follow them into Antonio’s office. He and Niko sit in a pair of chairs leaving the sofa for me, and unfortunately, Zane.
“If you don’t shut your damn mouth, I’ll send the boys out to buy every fucking one of them in the pet store, then make you eat every fucking one.”